Whoah.

I was lucky enough to see Ray LaMontagne perform twice yesterday, in studio and in concert. Most that follow him even remotely close will easily find that his stage persona or demeanor is not typical of an entertainer. He often comes across as shy, brief, cold and unfriendly to crowds. The first time I saw Ray perform in Denver a few years ago, he asked a crowd member to quiet down as a person cheered his name during the silence between songs. Many are put off by his coy attitude, but those that dig into his rocky past and atypical childhood often find solid reason for his unique banter or lack thereof.

I'm no biogrpaher but I do know a clouded outline of some of Ray's not-so-glamorous childhood lowlights, which is why I am one of the fans that cares less about the stillness left in a room after an uncomfortable interview with him. You can find more information on Ray Charles LaMontagne if you dig on this blog or head to one of many attempts on the web that outline "his story."

During the one-minute elevator ride I took with LaMontagne and his band, I saw a completely different side of him than I had witnessed on stage over the past years. He was laughing, joking, and hell, nearly gregarious. A complete 180 from the quiet, reserved man that emerged only minutes later when being interviewed in the studio or congratulated by his manager. During an interview on eTown last summer, the host and crowd were able to catch Ray in the light I saw him yesterday, as he quickly responded to a question not immediately knowing his answer was a complete sexual innuendo. Ray, the host, and crowd were all on the same page, if only for a few minutes.

Watching Ray's show last night at Macky Auditorium in Boulder gave me the chills numerous times. I was on the first row in the balcony with all the speakers aimed directly at my face. My friend and I could even notice the difference in volume, pitch and bass when we leaned over the balcony 6 inches as compared to leaning back in our seats. Ray LaMontagne was armed with full band, which included Jennifer Condos and the legendary Ethan Johns. His smoky voice bellowed emotional stories in the aged theater while Johns provided the catchy backing rhythms and much of the new-style arrangements. His recently released album covers a new spectrum of Ray with the gorgeously down-tempo ballad of "Winter Birds" in contrast to my favorite, the Americana, bar-stomping, gospel chant of "Henry Nearly Killed Me (It's A Shame)". It sounds like this

Ray LaMontagne - Henry Nearly Killed Me (It's A Shame)

and felt something like this last night:

Ray Lamontagne on Conan

If this were his main music video for "You Are The Best Thing" I'd be happier than the one he actually chose. Nonetheless, it sounds damn good.

Ray Lamontagne - Sarah

Sheesh! It's finally here. The Mountain Tempo has been waiting patiently for the release of Ray Lamontagne's Gossip In The Grain from RCA. We even gave a listen of Ray's "You Are the Best Thing" a bit back...and today the album is finally available for all of us.

Joining Ray on Gossip In the Grain is Jennifer Condos on bass, guitarist Eric Heywood, drummer/producer Ethan Johns, and singer-songwriter Leona Naess. Now, it may be common knowledge to the few, but as I was memorized by some old Ryan Adams tunes this gloomy weekend I came to find out another web between two of my favorite artists while reading the liner notes. Johns and Condos are both a part of Adams' long discography while Johns has also produced Kings of Leon, Ben Kweller, Crowded House, Glen Phillips, Wainwright, and on and on...not so surprising such a kick ass producer/drummer appears with Lamontagne now is it?

And what is the result? Yet another jaw-dropper.
Ray Lamontagne - Sarah

New Ray Lamontagne video

Ray Lamontagne released a video for his new single "You Are The Best Thing" last week. I think a great video can sometimes catapult an emerging artist to a much higher level. I consider myself a huge Ray fan and luckily for him, I think a crappy and cheesy video can never extinguish a great artist. I keep watching this waiting for the "Heineken" or "Axe" logo to appear until I remember that even those companies would never let a lackluster video like this be a part of their campaign. Urgggh. It's a great song (see a slight review on my previous post)...think of what they COULD HAVE done with it!

Artist Site

More Videos

Ray Lamontagne - You Are The Best Thing

It's Coming Together!

After seeing Ray perform last week and debuting some new songs, I became even more excited for the release of his new album. Today, The Mountain Tempo is here to offer up some new and even better Ray Lamontagne! The release of Gossip In the Grain is only around the corner and RCA has unveiled yet another single from the much anticipated album. I'm holding off (for now) on allowing downloads to keep his songs from exploding through the blogger world like last time. But, I have to make sure you can enjoy Ray Lamontagne's new single, "You Are the Best Thing" below.

New Ray Lamontagne and...

Happy August and what a great Friday it is! I've got some great news for you Ray fans. Let's start with the smaller news first and on we'll go to the bigger and better.

1. In case you don't know, Ray Lamontagne has announced the release of his new album, Gossip In The Grain, set to be released on October 14th from RCA records. Now we automatically know that it will knock our panties (or manties, for that matter) right off. But, he has also announced that Leona Naess will be lending her beautiful vocals to this album.

On we go.

2. The track listing for Gossip In The Grain:

1. Let It Be Me
2. Hey Me, Hey Mama
3. Sarah
4. I Still Care For You
5. Winter Birds
6. Meg White
7. Achin' All The Time
8. Henry Nearly Killed Me (It's A Shame)
9. A Falling Through
10. Gossip In The Grain

3. Here is a sneak peak of what Ray will serve up on his upcoming release. And again, if you like this edit, make sure to go to Ray's site and preorder your copy of Gossip In The Grain.

Ray Lamontagne - Let It Be Me

4. If you're a Colorado resident and you weren't quick enough to purchase tickets to Ray's August 8th performance at etown, have no fear. Leona Naess will be opening for Ray as they visit my backyard, taking Mackey Auditorium's stage on October 27!!!!!!!!!! And yes, tickets are on presale TODAY starting at 10am via Ticketmaster.

To see his tour schedule or to preorder Ray's new album, just go here

Happy Friday,
The Mountain Tempo

Damien Rice Part 2:Cameos and a new album?

As I mentioned before, it is odd (or isn't it?) how artists collaborate with other artists in the same genre regardless of personality, schedule, origin, etc. Maybe it's because they wanted to impress me...or most likely because each share that one common root: phenomenally outstanding songwriting and singing. I won't do a full history lesson of a song like I did for Ritter or trace roots and vast webs of friends in great detail. I'll just catch you up a bit on Damien Rice in Part 2:

As mentioned in Part 1, Damien has spent time busking on the streets after leaving his previous band, Jupiter, who went on to form Bell X1. Through his musical connections in Ireland, Rice is also part of a band that is a collection of various musicians. Ready for this? The Cake Sale features Lisa Hannigan (remember her voice on "9 Crimes?"), Paul Noonan (Bell X1), Gary Lightbody (Snow Patrol), Nick Seymour and Graham Hopkins (Crowded House), Nina Persson (The Cardigans) and two more little guys in the industry - Josh Ritter and Glen Hansard (Once, The Frames, The Swell Season, helped start both Ritter and Rice...).

Rice has also collaborated and performed with the heirarchy of my creme de la creme list. Thanks to a head's up last year by my musical detective over at I Am Fuel, You Are Friends, I was elated to find out that Damien Rice had performed with Ray Lamontagne in France to cover a Bee Gee's classic.

Damien Rice & Ray Lamontagne - To Love Somebody (live)

In 2007, Rice joined the stage with David Gray for Live Earth's leg at Wembley Stadium, London, to cover the 1956 pop song, Que Sera, Sera.

Damien Rice and David Gray - Que Sera, Sera (live)

And don't worry, according to Damien's site, he'll be coming out with another recording soon. He just finished a 10-day road trip where, he and friends drove (in a mini, mind you) from Ireland to Barcelona armed with a portable recording studio. His goal was to stop along the way in random places where he aimed to write and record a new song in each of the ten days and then compile each recording on a new album, Nuevo. We'll see...